PROJECT SUMMARY (OVERVIEW) The NIDDK P30 Digestive Diseases Research Core Center at the University of Pennsylvania is called the Center for Molecular Studies in Digestive and Liver Diseases (CMSDLD). Constituted in 1997 and funded continuously since then (with highly successful competitive renewals in 2002, 2007 and 2012), the CMSDLD provides an exceptional platform for basic and translational research in digestive, liver and pancreatic diseases with a vision of understanding human health and ameliorating the public health burden associated with these diseases. This overarching vision is executed through the interrelated missions or Specific Aims of the CMSDLD: (1) to support impactful interdisciplinary and collaborative digestive, liver and pancreatic research through its Members/Associate Members, who span 4 Schools at the University of Pennsylvania, multiple Departments/Centers/Institutes, importantly, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, as well as institutions within and surrounding Philadelphia; (2) to foster the academic and professional development of its Associate Members; (3) to provide state-of-the art services and technologies through its scientific core facilities (with quality and cost-effectiveness), which in turn support the Members and Associate Members; (4) to oversee innovative enrichment (inclusive of education and mentorship) programs and a highly successful pilot and feasibility grant program; (5) to promote gender, diversity and inclusion as part of our CREED (Clinical care, Research, Education, Encouragement and Diversity) and (6) to collaborate with other Penn Centers/Institutes as well as national universities, academic medical centers, other DDRCCs and the NIH/NIDDK, and conduct outreach with the lay public. Rigor, reproducibility and transparency are also critical aspects of the CMSDLD. The CMSDLD has an administrative structure, or Core, which is overseen by the Dean, and guidance from highly interactive Penn/CHOP leaders, and internal and external advisory boards. The CMSDLD may be viewed as a stem cell, which self-renews and concurrently gives rise to differentiated entities on campus that in turn continue to interact with the CMSDLD: (A) Members who apply for and receive new interdisciplinary grants spawned by the CMSDLD; (B) Penn-CHOP Joint Center in Transitional Medicine (adolescence to adulthood) in digestive, liver and pancreatic medicine; (C) Penn-CHOP Microbiome Program. The Perelman School of Medicine and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia have invested heavily in the CMSDLD and are committed to continue to do so in the next funding cycle. The CMSDLD is positioned to build upon its successes and be a vanguard of research, education and translational clinical care in the future.